Catastrophes, wars, terrorism, ecological disasters, deadly diseases,
poverty ....
The list of tragedies - both personal and public - is endless. Every
day and hour media, politicians, experts - and charlatans - bring us
a never ending barrage of bad things. No wonder that many people feel
depressed and weary.
This blog tries - in a modest and personal way - to contribute to a more
balanced view. After all, there is so much to appreciate and
enjoy in life ...

Friday, 22 June 2012

This is how the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds defines the Black-headed gull:

Not really a black-headed bird, more chocolate-brown - in fact, for much of the year, it has a white head. It is most definitely not a 'seagull' and is found commonly almost anywhere inland. Black-headed gulls are sociable, quarrelsome, noisy birds, usually seen in small groups or flocks, often gathering into larger parties where there is plenty of food, or when they are roosting.

Well, at least these two northern black-headed gulls appeared to have rather black heads, and they were not the least quarrelsome and noisy. The just appeared to enjoy the peaceful and calm Nordic summer evening ...

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

The Malta registered cargo ship Wilson Nantes - seen here today on its way to Klaipeda - is the first ship equipped with a smokestack that meets the requirements of the the European Union´s new Funnel Directive. By 2016 all ships visiting European ports must have a funnel, the length of which is at least 20% of the ship´s total length. (You can imagine how e.g the Queen Mary 2 will look, with a 70 m funnel!):

The SB 921 salvage tug of the Russian Baltic Fleet passed Helsingborg northwards this afternoon at about 4 PM. The 68,81 x 115,4m ship, with two SEMT-Pielstick diesel engines (7800hp) was built in 1985 by the Rauma Repola Uusikaupunki shipyard in Finland. In May this year the SB 921 took part in the Baltic Sarex-2012 naval search and rescue excercise off Denmark´s Bornholm island.

NJK(Nyländska Jaktklubben) is the largest and oldest registered yacht club in Finland. The NJK harbour and clubhouse in the South Harbour are among the classical landmarks of Helsinki. They have been "portraited" by a great number of artists and photographers over the years.

Here are three versions of the NJK in the old days:

The renowned photographer Daniel Nyblin shot this picture in 1893.

This painting by Albert Edelfelt (Now in the Ateneum art gallery in Helsinki) is from 1899.

Tuesday, 19 June 2012

Last night the cruise shipCosta Voyager passed through Øresund for the first time on its way from Copenhagen to Dunqerque. The 180,7 x 25,6m ship has 416 cabins for 832 passengers. The Voyager was built in 1999 by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg.

A few minutes earlier, at about 8 PM, the Holland America Line´sM/S Rotterdam had passed by. The 242 x 32 m Rotterdam also came from Copenhagen, and is now heading for Kiel.

This is the Russian 75 x 12 m fish carrierLazurnyy passing
Helsingør this afternoon. The destination of the ship is the North East Atlantic Fisheries Commission (NEAFC) fishing area in the Atlantic. PSI corrected the text after reading the comment below. NNoN, August 28, 2013